The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-04-21


A STAND AT THE RAILS.
Campaigns of the Civil War, Vol. XII, page
364):
On the morning Of the 2sth Gen Sheridan
directed to make "A demonstration ON the road from
Hanover Town TO Richmond to ascertain where
the enemy was posted; and about mile beyond
HRwesis shop Gregg's Division encountered the
enemy's cavalry. dismounted and occupying tenn
ponry brcastworks OF rails. This force, Gen.
Sheridan saws appeared TO be the Confederate
Cavalry Corps and "A brigade Of South Carolina
troops armed with long-rnnge rules, reported 10 be
q 900 strong and commanded 10y AOl. Butler.
But / learn from Gen. Fitzhugh Lee that the Con-
federate cavalry force there on te 2sh consisted oi
his own division OF two brlgades; Hampton : lDvls,
ION OF Two brigades. and brigade under command
of Col. (aiterwRrd General) Butler, which HAD
recently arrived from South Carolina. Fltzhugh
lee on the right of their line, Hampton on the
A long. hard contest ensued and continued until
late in the evening, when Clusters Brigade loi
Torberi's Division) and Gregg's Division carried
the intrenchments and drove back the enemy.
In a foot note Gen. Humphreys says, relative
70 Gen. NJ. &. Buffers South Carolina Brigade:
This brigade consisted of the ath. 5th and 9th 5.
C. regiments aud the 10th Ga battalion Part were
armed with longrange rifles. Butter war or hhd
been Colonel Of the 9th :. &. Although this bri-
gade had never been in action, yet, Gen. Sheridan
says il did good service in this encounter.
Gen. DnnnOvant succeeded Gen. Butler IN com
mand OF the brigade when Gen. Butler superseded
Gen. Hampton in command of his division then
composed Of 1oungs, Eossefs anu DuhloNAhIs
Brigades.
Ii is difficult to obtain even approximate fig
ures Of the numbers engaged in this battle, but
that we were greatly outnumbered is apparent.
III the Confederate Cavalry Corps maintained
about tie same number of regiments il had at
the time Of the organization OF the Army of
Northern Virginia Jan. 81, 1864, there must
have been
AT LEAST 90 REGIMENTS
eppaue1 ON their side To oDnOse these Gregg
had Duyies's Brigade Of four regiments, Irwin
Gregg's Brigade of. j think, five regiments, and
Clusters Brigade, of Torberts Divisional the
last.-of four regiments in all l3 regiments.
These regiments had been much reduced in
numbers and effectiveness by the arduOus ser
vices aforementioned.
The battle was one in which our Oppo-
nents certainly could not claim preponder-
ance of numbers on our side, and as such was a
fair test Of the material Of which our cavalry
was composed.
The following is an extract from the New
York Herald account of the battle:
Davies's Brigade was in the ad~lnce.
The woods seemed alive with rebels, aud they
coon began Tesound with the sharp volleys Of our
carbnea. in short time Davies's entire brigade
Mas fighting in earnest Col. Gregg war ordered TO
Daviss. support aud the remainder of the division
WAS hotly engaged. Fitzhugh Lee commanded in
person. iis Cavalry Corps all fighting, assisted
10y brigade of mounted tre-eaters from South
Carolina commanded by Col. Butler These men
lad iu-t arrived from the seabOard. and admit the
Nyarnlth-oi the reception which troops gave
them. Conspicuous la the battle were the 4th aud
10th Pa. Cav. lst n. j.. 9th Ohio aud lst Mass. For
long time these men held FitZ Lee back. All the
cavalry engaged behaved with valor.
We found the rebels strongly inirenched in the
woods. with heavy guns la position; but with
every advantage upon their side they were badly
beaten, flying from the field IN great confusion
leaving their dead aud wounded ia our hands and
over 100 prisoners.
Whatever glory was achieved by the bri.
gade OF division, was shared in by every regi
ment in the brigade OF division with our cav
airy. Were il not for this might be tempted
90 offer some criticisms the foregoing ac
count. That it was in bad taste and mani
festly unjust 10 make special mention Of all bu
two or three Of the regiments in the division
will appear, when it is known that the 10th n
y. Cav.
lost MORE BY NEARLY DOUBLE
in killed than any other regiment engaged oi
our side, while its number OF wounded was ex
cceded by only two other regiments, the lis
n. J. and 10th Pa, the former having Ia NOR
and the latter four. But the fact is every regi
ment engaged did its duty nohy and well, ant
no need bestowed upon one was unmerited b.
another.
OF the duration Of the battle Gen. Hum
phreys n quoted before says ID lasted lat
into the night" THIS is an error. ] do no
think it was later than 3 p. m. when our lin
was recalled, after driving the enemy across Ia
open field and into the woods beyond.
The Richmond Inquirer OF May 30 had th
following:
AnMY or NoRTHEEN VIRGINIA, I
May -. IsGl. /
About u O'Clock yesterday severe cavalry ii,l
occurred near Hawcss Shop between dctHcl
mcuts oi several brigsdes Of litzhugh Lees an
Hampou's Divisions aud a corps of Yankee Ca,
airy, supported 10y large body of infantry, est
nutrd ~ two corps. The enemy were guurdin
tc Tohd lending iroin That point 10 the Peninsula
Their cavalry were dstnountcd during the iigh
hnu commenced firing 90 "a distance. Bot
parties ad rauced and tlIr enemy ropeatediy charge
our line uud were handsomely repul-cd la ever
effort lAgir ccuier was driven in, or fell baol
and being lu Imminent danger oi being surrounds
ou butA thanks by the largely superior aud con
bn"d iorcs- ~ boih cavalry aud infantry, we WEI
compelled tu retire "a short distance 10 avoid d
ar ru'my ariI.iery playlu oH our ranks contll
uHIly. The musllctiy WAS very hcuyy aud iI
cc--itgtt iuI Time the yoilpyr between miaulI
ln regular iuc pi battle. The loss on both eide
Wus heavy, aud fow prisoners we've taken, but
is impossible now 90 give even an BpprOAimu
C-lHlato o' our own OF that oi thc enemy Anon
tnc casualties were Col Milrn. of Grofein. Lille
sud col. IuuuOvaut. of South Carolina wouudt
by q pistol shot through tlIe left hand Most ui oi
Jose b. Hllf4lcd to tlc TACT that nearly all tl4e Ion
engaged uu oar part were ucw men, whose ou
hreH was g" toln aud hEht, which they did do mao
PallHutly Huu crcdilubly. The fight continued
Intervals nun nearly O'Clock D. m. without d
cisi'e result -uFe Tie a-ccitalng 81 the enemy
position Hnd strength 81 that part ot his line.
That was indeed, queer tactics that won
support three small brgudos az cavalry Wi
"a large body OF infantry, estimated at L,
corps Tho fact is there was no support
any kind. and the sound of heavy "muskctrs
firing that came iHto such violent c9lisi
with the tympauum OF the rebel war con-
EpOudeut came from
OUR rET BREECH.LoADIEG CARBTNEs.
The battle ol iiawes. q Shop was the most stu
b0rnly contested cavalry battle Of the war
Virginia The dispropouiou Of numbers q
gagged, in favor OF the C0ufedcrates was
manifest that there has always been a sugge
i've silence from them ou the subject, aud q,
Hampton never claimed q yictory-a most
maTllable circumstance.
rheumatism aud Catarrh, caused by poora
corrupted blood, cured by Ayers SasapariH
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